


Sweet Emotions

by Montana



Series: Seven Kingdoms [3]
Category: Graceling - Kristin Cashore, Seven Kingdoms Trilogy - Kristin Cashore
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-10-14
Packaged: 2018-03-25 08:49:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3804250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Montana/pseuds/Montana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Katsa and Po have a son. Fast forward eighteen years. This is another story in the Seven Kingdoms featuring some of our favorite characters from Graceling and some new ones of my own creation. </p><p>Characters and Universe from the Seven Kingdoms Series belong to Kristin Cashore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. At first sight

Rowan helped his father from the ship as it docked in the most traveled port in Wester. He took his father's arm and led him down the ramp to the dock. It was all for show, of course, his father's grace affording him more awareness of his surrounding than anyone with sight could possibly know.

"I'm not so old that you have to parade me around like this," said his father.

"No. But you are blind and the sun is nearly rising."

"Thanks for reminding me, I'd nearly forgotten. However, I don't need the rest of Westport knowing that a prince of Lienid has gone blind in his middle age."

Just like that, as he referred to title, a slim man wearing the royal uniform of the Wester approached. "Welcome, Prince Po, Prince Rowan, to Wester."

 _And here we hoped to keep a low profile_ , thought Rowan.

He caught the flash of his father's smile from the corner of his eye.

The uniformed man continued. "King Birn would like to extend the invitation for dinner at his castle tonight."

"Your king misses nothing. Unfortunately my son and I are only stretching our legs from the weeks at sea. We will be leaving shortly, once our cargo has been delivered and our stores restocked." Po looked the man in the eyes as he spoke. He pulled off the charade well; as a child Rowan easily forgot that his father didn't have use of his eyes.

The corners of the man's mouth turned down in a frown. "I see. The king will be disappointed."

"Do give him our regards," added Po.

The man bowed and then he was off.

Rowan continued walking alongside his father, toward the marketplace. "It appears our friend wasn't happy with the news," said Rowan.

Po shook his head. "No. He'll be returning to his king with his tail tucked between his legs. Long has King Birn remained benevolent. I hope things haven't changed in his old age."

"Then we should cut to the chase and conduct our business here as soon as possible.

"Yes. I'd like to join your mother in the Middluns as soon as possible."

Their true purpose for docking in Wester was not to accompany a shipment of goods from Leinid. Instead, they had an assignment from The Council to meet a contact working for King Birn. The king had recently set to amass quite a large navy and expand his armies. One typically did not do that unless they were preparing for war.

* * *

The two men sat in a local tavern, finishing their mugs of ale. Their contact had left, meaning their business in Wester was complete. They would take the information they learned back to Katsa and the rest of The Council. 

Rowan tipped up his mug, the cool foam sliding down his throat as he downed the rest of the ale. He swallowed audibly. 

"The ship should be ready by now."

Po nodded and Rowan paid the waitress coin for their drinks. He stood to leave when his father clapped his hand on his shoulder. He eyed his father curiously.

"I think you'll want to remain seated."

The doors to the tavern burst open with two royal guards entered followed by a young woman wearing riding pants, knee high boots, a tunic with a belt fashioned around her waist. Rowan noted the sword at her hip on her right side. She was followed by two more guards and she was headed straight for them.

Upon closer inspection, Rowan noticed that her eyes did not match, identifying her as graced, one gray eye and one brown.

She stopped in front of their table and bowed. "Prince Po. Prince Rowan. My name is Aura. I have been instructed by King Birn to escort you to the castle."

Rowan eyed his father. There was no way the messenger could have returned to Birn City from Westport so quickly. This must have been planned ahead of time.

Po spoke up. "It's lovely to meet you, Lady Aura. Regrettably, we already told the king's runner that we will be leaving Westport now that our business here is concluded."

One corner of Aura's mouth twitched. "I am no Lady, your Highness, only a servant to the king. With that said, on behalf of the King Birn, I must insist that you come with us."

Rowan's gaze slid from Aura to the four guards, wondering if he should reach for the dagger at his boot. None of the guards moved. He resisted the urge to arm himself for the moment. His gaze slid back to Aura. She was beautiful, truly. She was tall and lean. Her attire suggested that she spent time riding and certainly not sidesaddle. Her dark hair hang in a long braid that reached her waist. His eyes slid back to her eyes, the left was brown whilst the right was gray. His appraisal was distracted when her hand moved to rest on the pommel of her sword. She was a servant of the king indeed.

King Birn was one of three kings to continue enslaving the graced population. Rowan wondered for how long she'd been in service. He didn't like the idea of gracelings being enslaved, in any shape or form. He didn't even know her. For all Rowan knew, she could very well be loyal to the king.

Po felt a push from the graced girl. It wasn't a mental push of someone who could read minds or control them. It was an emotional push. He was suddenly overcome by a calm that made him want to be agreeable. It was an interesting grace the girl had, bending someone's will based off of their feelings. 

Po stood, holding out his hands, palms out. The guards shifted, readying themselves for an attack. Po was notorious in the kingdoms for his fighting skills.

"I see no reason to argue. If the king is that serious about having audience with myself and my son, we are more happy to oblige."

Rowan watched as Aura eyed Po suspiciously. _Smart girl_ , he thought. She knew better than to underestimate a prince of Lienid, and a graced one at that.

After a long stretch of silence, she finally spoke. "We should be going, even on horseback it will be nearly a days ride."

"Lead the way," said Po

Rowan eyed his father as if he'd lost his mind.


	2. Between the lines

Rowan glanced at his father. Po appeared as stoic as ever.

Two guards rode in front followed by Aura. They had been provided with horses for their journey to Birn City. Rowan glanced back at the other pair of guards behind them.

 _We can escape at any time and they would never know_ , he thought to his father.

Po shook his head.

Rowan rolled his eyes in annoyance. His gaze shifted ahead to the backside of the Aura, King Birn's Graceling servant. Back in the tavern he had discerned that her grace had something to do with emotions, as he had the pleasure of first hand experience of her influence to calm him into agreeing to come quietly. Actually, it was Po who agreed, but Rowan trusted his father's judgement. After all, his father's grace likely afforded him with additional knowledge, something that Rowan had no way of knowing for himself.

Rowan kept his own grace hidden from everyone except those he most trusted. Apart from those few, as far as the seven kingdoms were concerned, he wasn't even graced. Such was his gift. Perception. He could alter the perception of others. He could easily enter the minds of others and fool them into believing what they saw never occurred or that something was there that actually wasn't. And they never saw it coming, not even his father, unless he wanted him to.

One of the first things he had learned to do after his grace announced itself was to change other's perception of his eye color. He had become so used to it that it was like breathing to him. As soon as his mind was conscious, he would enter the minds of others to see two blue eyes instead of one blue and one gray. When he was a child he questioned whether or not it was wrong to deceive others but his parents assured him that he was only protecting himself by doing so, so long as he didn't change people's perception of him in a way that made him better than he was. Changing his eye color was simply a defense, a way to hide in plain sight.

He noticed the horses ahead slowing down as they veered off the main road. 

"We'll rest up ahead," Aura called back. 

He nodded to show he'd heard her as he followed her lead.

* * *

Aura glanced over to where Rowan and Po stood by their horses. She had been watching their silent exchange for several minutes and found herself transfixed by how they seemed to communicate without saying a word. The guards wouldn't pick up on it; it wasn't that they were simple minded, only that her grace enabled her to sense even the slightest change in their feelings, whether it be emotional or physical. She felt it all. She'd felt Rowan's skepticism and Po's curiosity in the tavern in Westport. She felt the horses' annoyance at the flies nipping at their rear ends and that the guard to her left was suffering a headache from too many drinks the night before. Ignoring all the nonsense allowed her to focus on how it was Prince Greening's curiosity that had driven him to acquiesce, not her calming push, which surprised her. Nonetheless she had her orders and they seemed to be carrying out well for the time being. But Aura also had her own plans which should fall into place soon enough. She hoped for it to go smoothly; she didn't like when the king ordered her to use her grace to hurt others.

Her eyes shifted to the younger prince. She had felt Rowan's annoyance during the entire ride and it hadn't seemed to be letting up. _Spoiled prince_ , she thought.

Something drove her to walk over to the two princes. Rowan and Po shifted, practically in unison. The movement intrigued her. 

Aura took her time making her way over to them, inspecting the princes individually and together. Rowan didn't look like his father at first glance, at least not with his blond hair. Lienids commonly had dark hair. And from what she knew of the Lady Katsa, she did not have light hair either. But the more she looked, the more she saw the resemblance between father and son and they were both pleasant to look at. Rowan had his father's bone structure from his face to the build of his body. She did notice that they carried themselves differently though. Prince Greening, or Po as he was known to his friends, had a certain nonchalance about him. In comparison, his son appeared to be preparing for anything to strike out at him at any moment. His posture was protective over his father, leaning towards him whilst scoping their surroundings. 

They seemed to sense her at the same time, straightening and turning towards her.

She extended a spare waterskin out to them.

Rowan accepted it, however he inspected the waterskin warily.

"It's not posioned," she said, snatching the waterskin back from Rowan and taking a long swig. "I wouldn't dream of harming a Lienid, let alone a royal one."

Aura's gazed jumped from Rowan to Po as the prince tilted his head.

"I wasn't aware that King Birn's subjects were concerned with the welfare of Lienid royals."

Her response was low but both of them heard it. "I can't speak for the king on that matter, however, the matter is personal one to me."

For the second time, she extended the waterskin to Rowan. He received it without question but continued to refrain from drinking. His gaze was fixed on Aura's hands which now worked to relieve herself of her riding gloves.

On her right hand Aura had three rings, each on their own finger. Rowan was close enough to notice the callus on another finger from a ring she no longer bore. Lienids only wore rings for their living family members. One her left hand was a single ring, representing herself. This told both Rowan and Po two things; she had no siblings and was unwed. What Rowan couldn't understand was why a subject of Wester followed Lienid tradition.

She seemed to read his mind and said, "My father is a Wester native. He met my mother in Lienid during one of his trading routes outside of Ror City. I was born on my father's ship. King Birn claimed that since I was born on Wester property that I am Wester property as well. I used to spend every winter in Lienid with my mother and her parents until my eyes settled and King Birn had me brought to serve him."

Aura made quick work of putting her gloves back on.

Rowan finally drank from the waterskin. He passed it to his father who drank most of it. "And what of your mother?" he asked, ignoring the sound that came from his father's throat as he gulped down the water.

Aura's eyes cast down to the ground. "She passed." When her gaze rose to meet Rowan's once more, he knew there was more that she wasn't telling.

Po offered the half empty waterskin back to Aura.

She was whispering again. "Keep it. You'll have a chance to refill later if all goes to plan. If not, you'll be glad to have it."

Rowan watched as she moved away and returned to her companions.

"What do you think she's trying to tell us?"

Rowan turned to his father. _I don't think we're going to see King Birn after all._


End file.
